Former environment minister says Canada’s commitment to climate targets ‘factually untrue’

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Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin is being accused of lying by two of her predecessors for saying Canada is still committed to its Paris targets.

Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin is being accused of lying by two of her predecessors for saying Canada is still committed to its Paris targets.

Dabrusin is in Antalya, Turkey for COP31, the annual United Nations climate conference.

In an interview with The Canadian Press before the trip, Dabrusin said Canada is “absolutely committed” to its Paris Accord climate commitments. It’s a line the government has maintained despite every report and study over the past 18 months saying Canada is unlikely to meet those Paris targets.

Former environment minister Catherine McKenna said the claim that Canada is still committed to its targets is “factually untrue.”

“Canada now has zero chance of meeting its 2030 Paris commitment and has no path to meet net zero by 2050 (and this is before any new oilsands or LNG),” McKenna, who is also attending COP31, posted on X.

Speaking to The Canadian Press from COP31 on Friday, former environment minister Steven Guilbeault said Dabrusin’s claim to conference delegates that Canada is still committed to its Paris targets “defies reason.”

“I think in general you should tell the truth, and I think as a politician we — I guess I’m no longer a politician — but I always felt that I needed to be genuine with Canadians,” Guilbeault said, pointing to the government’s modelling and reports from the Canadian Climate Institute.

“(Dabrusin) knows that, and she’s seen those analyses. For her to claim that Canada is still committed to meeting the Paris targets, it’s disingenuous and it should have no place in politics.”

Under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Ottawa promised to bring Canada’s emissions to 30 per cent below 2005 levels.

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